#65 Swim in Crystal Clear Water and #68 Be in the Water for a Baptism{Life List Wednesday}

On a high school missions trip to Belize in July of 2010 we took the students to the keys on our final day there. It was amazingly beautiful. While we were there we also had baptism which was an incredible experience. Each person being baptized took a conch shell and wrote his or her sins on the shell or wrote some kind of message to God on it. When it was time for that person to be baptized each of us leaders asked them a question and then they threw the shell out into the ocean. After they were baptized one or two of the leaders would go with them and pray. 

Throwing the shell

Praying together after baptism

#60 Ride the Amsterdam Canals {Life List Wednesday}

I even got to  drive
(it was a really wide area)

My favorite shot from the ride

#58 Eat Sausage in Germany {Life List Wednesday}

While we were waiting for our train from Cologne, Germany to Amsterdam I decided to grab a sausage and fulfill #58 on the list. It was a little weird to me because they serve the sausage alongside a small roll, but don't put it in the roll like we usually do here. Nevertheless, it was really good.

Can you tell that I was really tired and really cold?

You May Call Me Master

On Thursday I finished my internship and as of Friday, I had officially completed everything necessary for my Master's of Education. And then over the weekend I got my grades for the semester and discovered that I am graduating with a 4.0 gpa. I can now cross #26 Get my MEd off of the life list (and #31).

There are no photos yet, but I will be going down for graduation in May. Can I tell you how excited I am to be able to write my name as

Shannon A. Madara, MEd

It feels pretty awesome!

#53 Go to a Holocaust Memorial in Europe {Life List Wednesday}

When I visited Chan Mi we also went to Amsterdam for a day and a half. While we were there we went to the Anne Frank House. We waited in line for a very long time and it was rather crowded when we finally did get inside. Originally when I wrote this on the list I though I would go to a concentration camp somewhere in Europe, but this seemed to be more personal. It was really hard to see the photos and the footage from the concentration camps that Anne and her friends and family were in. As a class we read Anne Frank's book Diary of a Young Girl in school, but this certainly made it more real.

Statue of Anne Frank
Note: This is not life size

Entrance to the Anne Frank House
No photos were allowed after this

#75 Go to Another Country with Chan Mi {Life LIst Wednesday}

Chan Mi and I have been friends since we were in 7th grade and I (along with another friend) was in charge of showing her around the school when she first came. Throughout high school we were inseparable and we stayed in close contact while we were in college too. Now, however, we live on opposite sides of the world and we don't get a chance to talk too often.

As I said in the previous post, I went to Germany to see her last year. While I was there we also went to Brussels, Belgium and Amsterdam in the Netherlands. It was quite an adventure.

At the top of the Atomium in Brussels

In a courtyard in Germany

#55 Eat Belgian Chocolate in Belgium {Life List Wednesday}

 Last November I went to visit my friend Chan Mi who was studying abroad in Germany. It was a lot cheaper to fly into Belguim, so she came and met me there and we spent the day exploring the city of Brussels. There was so much chocolate everywhere. I made sure to get some for myself and take some home for my friends and family. Even better than the chocolate was the Belgian waffle I had before we got on the train to go to Germany. It had bananas and chocolate and was beyond amazing. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. 

Chocolate Mannekin Piis statues

Inside a candy store

The amazing Belgian waffle

#44 Climb a Volcano {Life List Wednesday}

Okay, you may or may not agree that I have completed this, but if I'm cool with crossing it off, that's all that matters.

When I was in El Salvador about six years ago, we stayed at this compound at the top of an extinct volcano. The only climbing we did was walking around from one part of it to another, though it was a pretty steep walk to parts of it. Also, the crater is actually filled with water now and we went swimming in it.

Not my photos-Taken by others that were on the trip, but I'm not sure who

Side note: I think that's where I got my first parasite. TMI? Deal with it.


I was also in El Salvador about 11 years ago and got to climb on top of some of the lava that hardened into these big rocks that appear in really random places. I will not be showing picture of that for 2 reasons.

#1 They were taken with a film camera and my scanner hates me
#2 I have really bad hair

So I say I completed this. In my book swimming in a volcano and sleeping on top of it is just as good as climbing it from the bottom.

#63 Go on an African Safari and #54 Hold Orphans in Africa {Life List Wednesday}

I know I have not done a Life List update the last 2 weeks since I was in Rwanda and then was trying to do all of the updates afterward. This week I figured I'd share 2.

#63 Go on an African Safari

This is a newer addition to the list, but never thought that I would get to do it so soon. This was one of those far away "one day" dreams. In Rwanda we got to go on an amazing safari. I think my favorite part was seeing the elephant because it is so rare to see them. Only about 1 in every 20 groups get to see one. This guy was about 70 years old.

#54 Hold Orphans in Africa

When I wrote this I did so thinking that it would happen in an orphanage on a missions trip. However, I got to not only hold small children who had lost one or more parents, we also got to meet with people who were around my age who lost parents when they were very young and have learned how to do life on their own. I'm glad that this one did not go exactly as I thought it would, because I would have missed out on hearing the stories of these individuals.

#38 Start A Blog {Life List Wednesday}

This is a blog. I started it. Check. ✔

#33 Have a Mentor {Life List Wednesday}

Ever since I was in middle school and learned what the word "mentor" meant, I decided that I wanted to have one. The idea of having someone other than my {really great} parents to speak into my life seemed really appealing. Last fall I was given the opportunity to participate in a mentorship program through church for young adults who are leaders or future leaders called Emerge. It was a fantastic experience where I got to meet with my awesome mentor, Rachel, one or two times a month to discuss life, the future, and ideas from the meetings we had with the whole group.

Overall the experience was way better than I ever thought it would be.

#25 Earn B.A. {Life List Wednesday}

In May of 2009 I graduated from Millersville University with a Bachelor's of Arts degree in Government and Political Affairs with a minor in International Studies. I worked really hard and graduated in 3 years, but I skipped graduation. Instead I went to help out at the all-nighter for Circl3 (our high school ministry) and hung out with some great students. I think it was way better than my graduation would have been.

Not my photo

#22 Run In a Race {Life List Wednesday}

I was hoping to cross this one off the list at the same time as #23, Run a Half Marathon. Unfortunately the half marathon I wanted to sign up for sold out. Instead, I convinced my sister to run a 5K with me. I wouldn't say it was "fun," but it did feel pretty amazing afterward...but that may have been the free massages they had for runners afterward.

#24 Carve a Pumpkin

Today was a double whammy- I also carved a pumpkin with my LIFE group which meant that I could cross #24 off of my Life List. We got together to celebrate the October birthdays in the group, eat a strawberry pie dessert, and carve pumpkins. It was a blast. It's honestly hard to believe that I've only known these people for under a year because they are some of my favorite people to hang out with.

And yes, I did wear an apron while I carved the pumpkin because I am a super messy person.

#23 Run a Half Marathon

23 is off to a running start!

Today I turned 23, so it was only appropriate that I cross of #23 on my Life List and run a half marathon. Between my internship, work, and my last grad class though, I have barely had any time to train for this thing in the last two months. While I certainly wasn't as fast as I had hoped I'd be, I'm thrilled that I actually finished. 

Some photos from the race taken by my mom and sister

And an applicable quote that I love

#19 Go Snowboarding {Life List Wednesday}

When I was down at school for a class last August, I got to try out the Liberty Mountain Snowflex Center. It is this great ski slope, but instead of real snow, it is basically the turf equivalent of snow. It is incredibly hard to describe, but kind of feels like the rough side of velcro with mist coming up. I know it doesn't sound great, bit it is really cool. A bunch of people from my class went up and I got to snowboard for about 2 hours. I was not very good...and I was very sore the next day.

#17 See Ellen and/or The View {Life List Wednesday}

My first semester of college I only had classes until 10:50, so I'd go over to the gym on campus and do the elliptical and bike for an hour and watch the View. Since NY City is only a few hours away and my mother and sister and I enjoy going there, I signed up for tickets to go see it. We got to go in July 2008 just before The Dark Knight was released and got to see Gary Oldman who was their guest as well as hear what the ladies thought of the new Jolie-Pitt twins' names.

It was a neat experience, but not quite what I expected. We waited in line for a few hours, it was really hard to hear what they were saying at times and the gifts we got were a Yankee Stadium book and a large set with body wash, lotion, etc. in it and they were heavy. We ended up getting what we called a hobo cart to wheel them around so we could do some more sight seeing and not have permanent back problems.

I still think it would be cool to see Ellen. Ironically, I really don't ever watch the View anymore.

#15 Record a Song {Life List Wednesday}

When I was younger (i.e. until I was 16 or 17) I wanted to be a singer. I thought I was going to make it big in the music business. Thank goodness that did not happen.

This was another hold-over from the old list I made when I was younger. I got to record a song that I wrote for a music class in high school. Unfortunately I kind of hope that no one ever hears the thing. I wanted it to be a kind of raw, acoustic composition with just my voice, guitar, and some light percussion. My music teacher had just gotten a new music editing program and lucky for me *sarcasm* decided to try it out on my song. It is horrifically auto-tuned. Think about what it would be like if Britney Spears had a baby with a robot and it became a singer.

Yeah. That bad.

Leading worship on a missions trip to Jamaica

#12 Donate Blood More Than Once {Life List Wednesday}

I honestly don't remember putting this on my list. I do remember that I heard that a low percentage of people actually return to donate blood more than once. I wanted to make sure that I returned. I think I've done it 3 times. I have to wait to do it again for a year because of where I've traveled.

Sorry, no pictures. This is a bit of a boring post.

#11 Go Ziplining {Life List Wednesday}

On our senior class missions trip we went to Tepic, Mexico. It was a really cool trip, but we spent the week living in a rather crude concrete building on the hard, concrete floor. The boys actually had to sleep outside under an overhang. At the end of the week, though, we got to take 3 glorious days in a nice hotel on the beach in Puerto Vallarta.

One of the days we went on a canopy tour which is a zipline tour through this forest/jungle kind of area. It was such a blast! And it didn't hurt that all of the workers were very attractive and would come save us when we got stuck on the long lines. I got stuck on one and the guy came swinging out to get me and told me that he loves his job because he gets to rescue beautiful women all day. Sure, he tells that to all the girls, but I still blushed :)